Radio Control Pylon Racing
Aaron "AJ" Seaholm [email protected]
The author reconnects with his roots
I made the 700-mile, one-way trip to Kansas City, Missouri, the first weekend of October 2011 for the Kansas City Radio Control (KCRC) Fall Pylon Races. The KCRC was my home club for many years. A group of us helped get Pylon Racing going again, and this event holds a special place in my heart.
The two-day gathering features Q-500 AMA Events 424 and 426. The heats are flown on the AMA short course, which measures 475.5 feet from Pylons Two and Three to Pylon One. You may hear this layout referred to as the 2-mile course because that is the distance covered in 10 laps of racing.
After a long break (I hadn't raced since May), and knowing the MOKAN crew had been hitting every race within a 600-mile radius, I decided to gear up a composite Chuck Bridge–built Vortex to help my odds in 426.
After several 426 races with my Great Planes ready-to-cover (RTC) Viper, I figured flying both airframes the same weekend could also provide some interesting data for comparison of composite vs. non-composite times in 426. I will cover that comparison in the next section.
The KCRC race is flown as two separate one-day races with a cumulative Fast Time trophy. On Saturday there were 18 registered 424 pilots and 13 registered 426 pilots. The day was gorgeous with light winds and temperatures in the low 70s. The racing was tight and competitive all day.
Event co-CD Duane Hulen was unstoppable Saturday and put together six rounds of first-place finishes. Duane posted his quickest time for the day: 1:21.42. Mike Tallman and Mo Vereecke were tied, only one point back. Mike won the flyoff and finished second with the quickest time of the day at 1:19.95. Mo finished in third place with a time of 1:22.43, followed by his teammate Lonnie Finch with 1:21.87. Jesse Casteel rounded out the top five. Jesse recently jumped back into Pylon and is hard to beat.
The 426 (Sport Jett engines) races were as competitive as the 424 (Thunder Tiger .40 engines) heats. After six rounds of racing and dropping three points to hard-fought races, I secured first place and Fast Time for the day with a time of 1:03.89. I flew my Vortex on Saturday and friend Ken Van Tuyl supported me both days with his calling services. I admit that Lonnie, Mo, and Duane each took a heat, knocking me down a point each. This was bittersweet because I would like to think they learned a few things from me throughout the years. On the other hand, give me a break! I taught you every darn thing I know. Beat the snot out of someone else next time!
In all seriousness, racing is about the people, and seeing competitors reach their potential is rewarding. I'm proud to race against, get beat by, and call all these competitors my friends. The caliber of competition in this region is exceptional. The sportsmanship, camaraderie, and willingness to help out a fellow racer are the key elements to sustaining a local racing series. The good of the series and bringing in new blood must take precedence over winning.
Back to the coverage: Mo Vereecke and Lonnie Finch tied for second place in the 426 class on Saturday. Lonnie lost his Ninja to bad air while chasing his teammate in the flyoff. This spectacular dirt nap locked Mo into a second-place finish with a 1:05.04, followed by Lonnie in third with a 1:06.00. Jim Nikodem finished in fourth with a 1:08.38 over longtime Kansas City–area racer Gordon McWilliams, who posted a 1:12.54.
Saturday night was highlighted by a fantastic barbecue brisket dinner cooked by Dan Ulledahl and his wife, Sarah. The food was amazing and there were a few cold beverages consumed as the racers recapped an action-packed day.
Sunday dawned with more fantastic weather. The turnout was lower on Sunday, with pilot totals of 13 and 11 for 424 and 426, respectively. Five rounds were flown in each class to allow travelers to get on the road by early afternoon.
Mo Vereecke finished with a perfect 20-point score at the top of the pack in 424 with a best time of 1:22.29. Lonnie Finch and Mike Tallman tied for second place. Lonnie bested Mike in the flyoff and also took the Fast Time trophy. Lonnie laid down a 1:18.77 on Sunday to capture the overall Fast Time trophy for the weekend.
Ben Hobbs from Wichita, Kansas, secured a fourth-place finish with a best time of 1:26.49. Scott Hartman from Texas came in fifth with a 1:27.32. Scott has been a great supporter of the MOKAN series and has traveled many miles to attend these races.
Lonnie Finch won the 426 event on Sunday with a perfect score and a 1:07.89 quick time for the day. Second place went to Mo Vereecke with a 1:06.70 and one point down. Mike Tallman finished in third with a 1:12.53, followed by yours truly in fourth place. Scott Hartman finished out a good day with another fifth-place finish to accompany him during the long haul back to Texas.
The KCRC club members delivered a well-run and fun event. I do not believe there was a single refly the entire weekend. My personal thanks go out to co-CD Craig White and the rest of the KCRC crew. It was an enjoyable weekend of hard racing and hanging out with old friends. I look forward to attending this race again next year.
426 class: composite vs. non-composite comparison
The Fall KCRC Q-500 races were the fifth and sixth races I’ve flown in the new Super Sport Quickie class—AMA Event 426, or simply 426.
In the first four races I flew my UltraCote-covered Viper with a wood-sheeted foam wing and fiberglass-covered fuselage. Those races were flown at three different fields with either the 8 x 8.5 or 8.8 x 8.75 APC propellers. At each of those races my quickest time was in the 1:06 range. My caller/teammate was either Ken Van Tuyl or Scott Causey.
During the competition on Saturday at the fall KCRC race, I flew my Chuck Bridge–built Vortex. After getting a little rust off in the first heat, I posted two heats at 1:05.3, running the 8.8 x 8.75 APC propeller. Based on this, I initially thought the smooth finish, concealed control horns, skinned hinges, and composite airframe were approximately 1 second faster than the RTC Viper.
In Round Four, Lonnie Finch convinced me to try the 8.75 x 8.5 N APC propeller. I had used this propeller at the 2010 AMA Nats in Q-500 AMA Event 428 and liked the performance. The change in propeller and a hard-fought heat dropped my best time down to 1:03.89, nearly 1.5 seconds faster than the previous two heats with the 8.8 x 8.75.
On Sunday I flew my RTC Viper, and even with the 8.75 x 8.5 N propellers I was not able to go faster than a 1:06.5. The overall times by Sunday’s quickest 426 pilots were roughly a second or so slower than Saturday’s times. The 1:06.5 was the fastest time posted on Sunday.
Based on the times flown with the 8.8 x 8.75 APC propellers throughout the four prior races, I believe the $100 Viper is roughly 1 second slower than the $700 Vortex. The 8.75 x 8.5 N propellers added another variable that I am not sure about at this point. It could be that the cleaner composite airframe was better suited for the heavier load of this propeller, or the air just wasn’t as good on Sunday.
The 426 class flown on the AMA 2-mile short course limits the advantage of a composite airframe. There is a slight advantage, but unless you are competing at the highest level of national racing, the minor advantage may not justify the additional cost. In the majority of heats at the local level, the airframe advantage can easily be overcome with smooth, tight, and consistent flying by a team that does not make mistakes.
But why did I win with the Vortex and take fourth with the Viper? My fourth-place finish on Sunday had nothing to do with the Viper airframe. I was greedy and leaned too hard on the motor, resulting in a flameout and a zero.
I realize this is not the most scientific study ever printed, but I hope it helps up-and-coming racers decide when the time is right to upgrade gear. I think until you are consistently within 1 to 2 seconds of the fastest pilots, the advantage of a more expensive model will not improve your finishes.
There are other benefits of a composite airframe. Build time is greatly reduced and the consistency between models is improved. You get what you pay for, but in the case of 426, don’t expect your times to instantaneously drop 5 seconds.
Quickie fuselage building tips
Lonnie Finch shared his secret to building a straight, strong, yet lightweight Quickie airframe. As with most things in Pylon Racing, there are several different ways to get there. I will share a few things that have worked for me in the short time I have been building.
- Most kits produced today have laser-cut, tab-'n'-lock construction, which helps create a straight airframe. It is possible to get the sides of the fuselage off if you rush through the assembly process. Take your time and double-check the alignment of everything before you put that first drop of glue on the assembly.
- Tab-'n'-lock construction also helps with the strength of the airframe, but there is more you can do to make it stronger. Two areas that need to be strong for straight tracking and fast flying are the firewall and tail section.
Firewall tips:
- Mix some epoxy with chopped fiberglass or carbon, add CAB-O-SIL or microballoons to thicken the epoxy, and make fillets in the eight corners of the nose section, from the firewall back to the first former. Use the same mixture to make fillets around the wing hold-down and landing gear blocks.
- Take a piece of 0.75-ounce fiberglass cloth and wrap the nose section back to the leading edge of the wing in one piece. Lay it on the firewall and fold it back along all four sides of the airframe; this ties everything together and makes it nearly impossible to pull the firewall out.
Tail section tips:
- If the torque rods for the elevators are spread out too far, you will have to remove fuselage side material for them to function, which weakens the aft section. Try to keep the torque rods as close together as possible.
- I like to add Dave Brown carbon-fiber strips to each side of the fuselage. Seeker kits have a former in front of the tail and I run the carbon-fiber strip from just behind that to roughly an inch from the end of the fuselage side. This is a thin piece that helps with twisting of the tail section and provides extra support for less-than-perfect landings and the downward pressure imparted by your caller.
- Some people use the carbon-fiber veil or fiberglass and apply that to the entire fuselage side on the inside. I don't think it's necessary.
There are many ways to build a light, strong, straight airframe. These are just a couple of techniques that work for me.
NMPRA Championship results
The results of the 2011 National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) Championship Race have been announced. Congratulations to Jim Allen and caller Gary Schmidt for winning the 2011 NMPRA Championship Race held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in November. Randy Bridge took second place after a flyoff with Jim. "Rocket" Ray Brown finished in third place.
Gary Schmidt took fourth, followed by fifth-place finisher and Fast Time recipient Lee VonDerHey, who posted a smoking-fast time of 59.66. John McDermott finished in sixth place.
Have fun; race hard! AJ
Sources:
- NMPRA — www.nmpra.org
- KCRC — www.kcradiocontrol.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
